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Genealogie Bos

23 Feb 2016

Tuesday's Tip - Latin Term - Nomine Uxoris

When doing genealogical research, you may - once in a while - stumble upon some words of Latin. For centuries, the church provided for baptisms and burials, and Latin has been the standard for the Roman Catholic liturgy since the 6th century. In a new "Latin Term" Series I will try to explain some Latin Terms that can be found in genealogical documents.

The Latin TermNomine Uxoris("in the name of thewife") is a term,used in The Netherlands inthe early modern period(15thto 19thcentury), when a woman'sbelongings wereregistered in the nameofherhusband.

At that timeamarried womanwasbasically regarded as incapacitated - with her husband acting asherguardian. In the case ofinsanityorprolonged absence ofthehusband, however, his wife could - with the consent ofherhusband - acton her own.

Upon the deathofa spouse, the children used toinheritfromtheirdeceasedparent,but thewidow(er) was allowed the fruition of the inheritance as lang as (s)he lived.